MetroWest Medical Center making $12M in capital investments

Jim Haddadin Daily News Staff @JimHaddadin

Tuesday

May 15, 2018 at 10:10 PMMay 15, 2018 at 10:10 PM

FRAMINGHAM — MetroWest Medical Center will make $12 million in capital investments in its Framingham and Natick hospitals this year, adding robotic surgery tools, a new pharmacy and new imaging equipment.

MetroWest Medical CEO Jeffrey H. Liebman said the upgrades are aimed at improving care for patients and attracting new physicians to the hospital system, which is in a period of growth.

Discussing his future plans with the Board of Selectmen, Liebman — who took over the top job at the hospital eight months ago — said MetroWest Medical will add 11 physicians this year, and hopes to entice more in the future to begin offering higher-level procedures.

"If I could find the right people trained the right way, we would commit to hiring another 150 people,” he said. “We have that many (jobs) because of our growth."

MetroWest Medical, a for-profit system, serves some 300,000 people living in eight or 10 cities and towns. Its primary service area is Framingham, Sudbury, Natick, Marlborough, Hopkinton, Ashland and Holliston. It offers 307 licensed beds at its two hospitals, including 86 behavioral health beds in Natick, where it provides substance abuse treatment programs.

In one marker of its growth, Liebman said the hospital has seen the number of baby deliveries rise from around 750 four years ago to nearly 1,200 per year.

Framingham Union Hospital and Leonard Morse together see about 65,000 emergency room visits, he said.

Liebman said the hospital system plans to bring more “leading edge care” closer to home for local patients who currently travel to Boston for procedures. One change on the horizon is the introduction of new behavioral health offerings in Natick, including electroconvulsive therapy.

The procedure, which has been vastly improved since being introduced in the 1930s, involves stimulating the brain with electricity. ECT procedures show promise for treating certain mental disorders that don’t respond to other treatments, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Asked how the city can support the hospital, Liebman said city officials should be aware of legislative action on the state and federal level that affects the medical field.

"Every time I fill a bed consistently at the hospital, I create seven to eight jobs,” he said, “so the more you can encourage people, whether that be the unions, whether that be insurance companies, to include us in those networks, the better off we are in terms of job creation in this area."

Jim Haddadin can be reached at 617-863-7144 or jhaddadin@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @JimHaddadin